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any of Jakarta'€™s road users shrug off traffic violations as an inalienable fact of life. Yet the vicious circle of improper driving licence procedures, contempt for traffic rules and inconsistent law enforcement certainly contributes to the city'€™s chaotic traffic.

Angga Triaji, who rides his motorcycle to his office in South Jakarta every day, said that he sometimes ran red lights or drove against the traffic flow if he was in a hurry. He violated the regulations, he said, because he has seen many other motorcyclists do so unpunished, even under the eyes of traffic police.

Having moved from Semarang three years ago, Angga claimed that in his hometown, he was a traffic-law abiding citizen. However, he said, his attitude changed when he moved to Jakarta.

'€œHere, there have been times when I was the only motorcyclist who waited for the green light, so I think, why don'€™t I just run the red light like the others?'€ he said.

Ignorance of traffic rules, flaring tempers and weak law enforcement all add to the hectic scenes on the city'€™s streets.

Doni, 16, an angkot (public minivan) driver, admitted that he ignored other drivers who sounded their horns at him as he waited recently for passengers in a congested street leading to a market in Pondok Labu, South Jakarta.

Doni said the angkot was usually driven by his uncle who, feeling unwell, had asked Doni to take over for a day. Despite not possessing a driving license, Doni said he was confident about his driving skills, which his uncle had taught him.

'€œI don'€™t even have any identity card, let alone a driving license,'€ he told The Jakarta Post recently.

Doni is far from the only driver in the city without a license, while others obtain one without taking a test.

The driving license service is notorious for corruption, with applicants wanting to skip the administrative process often bribing police officer through middlemen.

Ellen, 23, a university student, said she had procured her license '€œunofficially'€ seven years ago, because she was underage at the time.

'€œMy mom contacted her friend at the Tangerang Police office to help me,'€ she said over the phone, claiming that the office was full of staff and officers offering similar '€œassistance'€.

Ellen, who said she had been ticketed three times for violating the 3-in-1 traffic rule on Jakarta'€™s main thoroughfares, added that her contact at the Tangerang Police office had not asked her to take a test before giving her the license.

Meanwhile, the head of the Jakarta Police'€™s traffic sub-directorate'€™s driving license section, Comr. I Nengah Adi Putra, said he had implemented a number of measures to prevent wrongdoing in the driving license issuance process.

He had installed, he said, a number of CCTVs around the Jakarta Police Driving License Processing Unit in Daan Mogot, West Jakarta, to identify any middlemen.

'€œWe'€™ve also applied other necessary measures, such as setting up a waiting room that can only be entered by those taking a driving test,'€ Putra said. (prm)
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'€œI don'€™t even have any identity card, let alone a driving license.'€